Driver&#39;s chair



Feb. 9,1943. AB. BELL f 2,310,346

DRIVER S CHAIR l Feb. 9, 1943. BBELLl 2,310,346

DRIVERS CHAIR Filed Dec. 26; 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 9, 1943DRIVERS CHAIR Alfred B. Bell, Gardner, Mass., assig'nor toHeywood-Wakefield Company, Gardner, Mass., a corporation ofMassachusetts Application December 26, 1939, Serial No. 310,891

l Claim.

This invention relates to an adjustable chair adapted for use as a busdrivers seat or for other equivalent uses.

Drivers of vehicles such as motor busses customarily occupy the driversseat for consider-V able period of time when on duty. It is importantthat the seat and its back be so arranged as to support the driver in anatural and comfortable position. A strained or awkward position of thedriver results in fatigue which increases the danger of accidents. Sincea motor bus may be operated by diierent successive drivers, it isdesirable that the drivers chair be adjustable to accommodate drivers ofdifferent sizes.

It is an object of the invention to provide a chair with improved meansfor effecting various adjustments quickly and easily.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be hadto the following description thereof, and to the drawings of which-Figure l is a side elevation of a chair embodying the invention,portions being broken away to show in section.

Figure 1a is a fragmentary sectional view on the line Ia-Ia of Figure 1.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary section on the line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of parts of the chair by which the backis supported.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4--4 of Fig ure 1.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the stem which supports the seat.

Figure 6 is a section on the line 6--6 of Figure 4.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the structureshown in Figure 6, the parts being shown in a diierent position of operation.

Figure 8 is a section on the line 8--8 of Figure l. y

Figure 9 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified form of theinvention.

The chair illustrated in the drawings is provided with a stationarypedestal I0 adapted to be secured to the floor of a vehicle. Asillustrated in Figure 4, the upright portion of the pedestal I0 isgenerally cylindrical and is made f with a central cylindrical bore inwhich is slidable a stem I2. The upright of the pedestal is alsoprovided with a pair of parallel auxiliary bores I4 and I8 which areconnected to the central bore by slots 20 and 22, these slots being forthe purpose of slidably receiving a pair of splined elements 24 and 26which are elongated as indicated in Figure 5 to extend substantially theentire length of the stem I2 and which are rigidly secured to the stem,the stern having shallow longitudinal grooves formed in its side wall atopposing points to receive these splines as indicated in Figures 4 and5. The spline elements 24 and 25 may be permanently secured to the stemin any suitable manner such as by screws, welding or the like. Thepedestal I0 is preferably surrounded by a protective and ornamentalhousing 28. The stem I2 supports the seat of the chair and is verticallyadjustable to adjust the height of the seat. To this end suit-- ablenotches are cut in the side wall of the stem to form ratchet teeth bywhich the stem and the seat mounted thereon can be maintained atdifferent heights as desired. The stem I2 is preferably hollow asindicated in Figures 4 and 5 and is preferably formed with a relativelythin wall to minimize weight and cost. The notches which are cut in avertical series to form the ratchet teeth penetrate the wall of the stemand form apertures therethrough. The lowermost notch 3i) is longer thanthe upper notches 32. The notch 30 also differs from notches 32 in thatit forms upper and lower horizontal shoulders 34 and 36, whereas each ofthe notches 32y has an upper shoulder 38 which is horizontal and asloping lower shoulder 4U. Cooper-ating with these notches, theshoulders of which are equivalent to ratchet teeth, is a pawl 42 whichprojects through a suitable aperture in the side wall of the pedestalII) and is arranged to enter any one of the apertures formed by thenotches in the stem. As shown in Figure 6, the pawl 42 is provided witha nose 44 which has a horizontal top surface and an inclined lowersurface so that the nose is tapered. This nose is adapted to fit intoany of the notches 32 so that its lower` inclined face rests against theshoulder 40. In each of the upper notches 32, the shoulders 3E and 4i)are spaced in such a manner as to receive the tapered nose only of thepawl 42. Thus the pawll can project into the notches 32 only to theextent indicated in Figure 6. It is thus evident that, if the stem beraised, the inclined surface of the nose 44 will be acted upon by theinclined shoulder 4) with which it is engaged to push the pawl 42outward so as to permit upward movement or' the stem and the seat whichit supports The lowermost notch 30, however, has an aperture through thewall of the stem large enough to receive the full cross section of thepawl 42,

so that when the notch 30 is in register with the pawl the nose of thepawl may project entirely beyond the wall of the stem so as to beentirely within the stem as indicated in Figure 7. Since the lowershoulder 3S is horizontal and is arranged to engage the horizontalbottom face of the shoulder when the tapered nose is entirely within thestem, removal of the stem from the bore in the pedestal is preventedunless the pawl be nrst retracted from the notch 39. The pawl @2 ispivotally attached to a rocking lever 53 which is rockably mounted as at52 between a pair of ears 54 secured to the pedestal I9. A treadleelement 56 projects outward through the housing 28 and is arranged insuch a manner as to retract the pawl 42 when the treadle is depressed. Astop element 58 is preferably provided on the lever U to preventexcessive retraction of the pawl 42 such as might move it clear of thepedestal wall. A suitable compression spring G is shown on the drawingsfor the purpose of pressing the pawl 42 resiliently inward, so that whenthe treadle 5E is released the pawl tends to press into whichever notchis in n; gistry therewith.

Instead of using a lever 59 to retract the pawl ft2, a simple stem 5Imay be employed, such stem being attached to the pawl l2 and having aconvenient handle 53 at its outer end whereby the occupant of the chaircan readily retract the pawl 42 from whatever notch it may be engagedin. To press the pawl inward, a compression spring 55 may be providedthereon, a housing 57 being located around the stein to take the thrustof the spring 55. The inner end of the spring bears on the pawl 4Z.

In order to facilitate vertical adjustment of the seat, a portion of theweight thereof may be taken by a suitable compression spring 62 locatedinside of the stem I2, the upper end of this spring bearing against atransverse plate Sli which is secured within the stem. The loweil end ofthe spring 62 may bear against a plate EE which is xed to the pedestalIG at the bottom of its cylindrical bore.

A shield E5 is provided within the bore of the pedestal to preventinterference between the spring G2 and the pawl d2. This shield may alsoserve as a stop to limit the inward movement of the pawl when its noseenters the lowermost aperture 39. As indicated in Figures 4 and 5, theshield 65 may conveniently be a portion of a cylinder which is securedwithin the stem I2 by any suitable means, such as welding.

The operation of the foregoing portion of the chair is simple. If it isdesired to elevate the seat, the seat is manually raised to the desiredheight, the pawl being successively pushed out of the upper notches 32by engagement with the inclined shoulders 49. If the seat is moved toits highest position of adjustment, the nose 44 of the pawl projectsthrough the lowermost notch 39 so as to be entirely within the bore ofthe stern i2. Further upward movement of the chair and stem is thereuponprevented by engagement of the lower shoulder 36 of the notch 33 withthe horizontal bottom face of the pawl 2. If removal of the seat andstem from the pedestal is desired, it is only necessary to step on thetreadle 5S so as to retract the pawl from the notch 3S, whereupon theseat and steml can be lifted clear. In order to lower the seat, thetreadle 55 must be pressed to permit the upper notches 32 to move downpast the retracted nose of the pawl.

Mounted on the upper end of the stem |2 are a pair of parallel railsextending horizontally and connected by suitable transverse members 72,'f4 and 76. Slidably mounted on these rails 5 is a horizontal skeletonplatform or frame 89 which is held thereon by pin-and-slot connec tions8| which permit sliding movement of the platform in a front-toreardirection on the rails 19. The platform 89 is provided with a bearingmember 82 for a screw-threaded shaft 84, on the forward end of which isa convenient oper-- ating handle 86. The threaded shaft 84 extendsrearwardly from the handle 86 and is in threaded engagement with thetransverse member 1B. Rotation of the threaded shaft 84 thus results ina forward or rearward movement of the platform 89. Bolted or riveted tothe side margins of the platform 89 are a pair of longitudinal bars 88to the ends of which is welded a tubular member Si). As indicated inFigure 8, this tubular memberv has a transverse front portion, sideportions parallel to the bars 88, and rear portions which are connectedby a member |60, hereinafter referred to. From the side portions of thetubular frame member 90 a pair of extensions 92 branch off and curveupwardly to serve as supports for the back rest of the chair.

Hinged as at 94 to the forward portion of the tubular frame 99 is aseat-cushion frame SG on which is directly mounted the seat cushion 98.

The seat cushion and its frame are thus rockable on the hinge 94 toadjusted positions as indicated by broken lines in Figure 1. Thesedifierentpositions are characterized by different degrees of elevationof the rear end of the seat cushion. In order to support the seatcushion in such adjusted positions, the member |99 which connects theends `of the tubular member 90 is provided with a number of suitableapertures |92. A pawl |84 is mounted on the bottom of the seat'frame 9Sfor longitudinal sliding movement in such a direction as to engage thefixed member |99 as indicated in Figure 1. A suitable compression spring|06 presses the tapered nose |93 of the pawl against the member |90, thepawl and spring being housed in a casing IIl'I which is secured by apair of brackets |99 to the seat frame 96. A pair of hand grips III] maybe mounted on the sides of the seat cushion 93 to facilitate lifting therear portion of the seat cushion. When the seat 98 is rocked on itshinge so that its rear end is elevated, the nose |08 on the pawl |94slides upward against the face of the member |99 until it registers withone of the apertures |92. Thereupon the spring |06 pushes the taperednose into such aperture. The upper surface of the nose is inclined, sothat, if the lifting is continued, the nose will be forced out of theopening |62 and will snap into the next opening when the pawl comes intoregistry therewith. The lower surface of the nose |08 is not inclined sothat the seat is held in adjusted position by the pawl |94 until thepawl is retracted to permit the rear end of the seat to descend. Forconvenient retraction of the pawl |94, a rockshaft |I2 is mounted on theseat frame 96. A finger H4 projects radially from the shaft I| 2 into asuitable notch in the pawl, so that if the shaft is rocked in the properdirection the finger |I4 will retract the pawl |94. The shaft I I2projects out to one side ofthe seat cushion 98 and is provided with anoperating lever IIS. This lever projects forward from the shaft I |2 sothat its end portion is convenient to the hand of the operator and canbe easily grasped to rock the shaft and release the pawl from theopenings |02.

A seat-back |20 is releasably supported on the uprights 92 and can beadjusted thereon to various angles of inclination. To this end, ashallow housing member |22 is secured to each side edge of the seat-back|20. Each housing member, as illustrated in Figure 3, is elongated andis provided with a slot |24 near its lower end and a branch aperturenear its upper end. This aperture, as shown, may consist of a circularhole |26 from which a slot |28 extends upward and branches into threerecesses or notches |30, |32 and i3d. On each upright 92 is an upper pini439 and a lower pin |42. rIhe pins on each upright project toward theother upright and each upper pin |40 is provided with a head M4 adaptedto enter the hole |26 on the corresponding housing member |22. The slot|28 and its branches are wide enough for the pin |40 but are narrowerthan the diameter of the head |44 so that as long as the pin |40 is keptin the slot |28 or any of its branches, the housing |22 is locked to theupright 92. As indicated in Figure 2, the lower pin |42 projects throughthe slot |24 and also through a hole |48 in the upper end of a plunger|50. This plunger extends down within the housing member |22 through ahole in the lower wall of the housing member. A compression spring |52is carried by the plunger |50 and presses downward through a loosewasher |53 against the lower wall of the housing member |22. The twosprings |52 thus tend to push the seat-back |20 downward, as-

sisting force of gravity. Since the pins |40 and |42 ride in slots, theseat-back can be manually raised a limited distance against the force ofgravity and the pressure of the two springs |52. By raising theseat-back, the upper pins |40 are caused to ride out of the branchnotches in which they have been seated. The seat-back can thus be tiltedso as to permit the pins |40 to enter other notches, thus holding theseatback in a different angle of inclination. In the embodiment of theinvention illustrated on the drawings, three possible angles ofinclination for the seat-back are provided since each housing member hasa slot with three branches or notches. If desired, a greater or lessernumber of notches can be provided.

It is evident that various modications and changes may be made in theembodiment of the invention herein shown and described without departingfrom the spirit or scope thereof as defined in the following claim.

I claim:

A chair of the class described, comprising a stationary upright pedestalhaving a vertical bore therein, a hollow cylindrical stem slidablymounted in said bore, spline means preventing rotation of said stem insaid bore, a seat carried by said stem, and means for adjusting theheight of the seat, said adjusting means including a vertical row ofnotches in the side of the stem forming ratchet teeth, each notch havinga horizontal upper shoulder and an inclined lower shoulder, a pawlmounted on said pedestal and horizontally slidable through the sidethereof to enter any of said notches, said pawl having a horizontalupper edge extending substantially to the extremity of the pawl and alower edge which is horizontal except for an inclined portion adjacentto said extremity, each said notch being of such size as to receive theextremity of said pawl with its upper edge bearing on the horizontalupper shoulder of the notch and the inclined portion of the lower edgeof said extremity bearing on the inclined lower shoulder of the notch,said stem also having an aperture therethrough below said notches andwith horizontal upper and lower shoulders engageable by horizontalportions of the upper and lower edges

